TED is an elite conference designed around issues in Technology, Education and Design, and is notoriously selective about who gets invited. Even with an invitation, it costs $4,400 to attend. Now, they’re making online versions of several speakers’ talks available for free. So far, I’ve only checked out one, but it’s a keeper.
Hans Rosling is public health expert and the founder of Gapminder, a non-profit initiative to bring global health and economic statistics alive. His presentation is incredible and really brings some positive news from a huge pile of seemingly boring numbers. On the Gapminder site, you can download a number of animated presentations of global reports. Rosling’s work seems to embody the perfect synthesis of technology, education and design. Check out an online version of some of Gapminder’s work.
You’ll need the Flash plugin installed to watch online, but you can also download video or audio. Other speakers in the series include Al Gore and David Pogue.